My motherboard is BIOS only, so it can only use MBR. Is it possible at all to make a full 8TB partition, using MBR?
My PSU cables might be stretched a bit too thin to allow for a second internal drive, since I am already using two optical drives. So, if there is an update for my BIOS available, will it automatically expand the install partition after the BIOS update? Or, will I have to format the drive and reinstall Windows again?You should post your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Some boards need a BIOS update in order to see drives larger than 2/3TB. That being said, why did you even bother with installing an OS onto an 8TB HDD? You should've gotten a smaller drive since partitioning a large drive multiple times over only decreases it's lifespan.
If your BIOS doesn't support UEFI boot mode, then you can not boot from GPT drive.So, if there is an update for my BIOS available, will it automatically expand the install partition after the BIOS update? Or, will I have to format the drive and reinstall Windows again?
there is no such thing as BIOS update for older motherboards to support UEFI/GPT as a bootable drive. You can only get a new motherboard. Or, as everyone stated before, you can get another smaller drive for operating system.My PSU cables might be stretched a bit too thin to allow for a second internal drive, since I am already using two optical drives. So, if there is an update for my BIOS available, will it automatically expand the install partition after the BIOS update? Or, will I have to format the drive and reinstall Windows again?
Ok. But what confuses me, is that back in 2017, I installed a 4 TB internal drive onto this BIOS motherboard, and it created a full 4 TB partition. That 4 TB drive is dated October 2016. So, is it possible that that 4TB drive was formatted with MBR partition?If your BIOS doesn't support UEFI boot mode, then you can not boot from GPT drive.
GPT is necessary to access drive capacities larger than 2TB.
So your options are:
1. Use smaller drive for boot and use 8TB drive as secondary storage (GPT partition format) or
2. Get a different motherboard, that supports UEFI boot.
To access full capacity of 4TB drive, it has to be partitioned in GPT.I installed a 4 TB internal drive onto this BIOS motherboard, and it created a full 4 TB partition. That 4 TB drive is dated October 2016. So, is it possible that that 4TB drive was formatted with MBR partition?
Except I was using that drive to boot from. The only other info I can provide, is that back then, I installed the Windows 7 from a bootable DVD instead of a bootable USB Flash Drive. Can that make a difference?To access full capacity of 4TB drive, it has to be partitioned in GPT.
So obviously it was not partitioned in MBR and you didn't use this drive to boot from.
You can still use GPT partition scheme for secondary storage drive. This limitation applies only to boot drive.
And there were no other drives in that pc?Except I was using that drive to boot from.
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3Which motherboard do you have?
Thanks. Although, after my motherboard crashed and resumed working again, it doesn't seem to be able to make 3TB+ partition. Since this board also has dual bios, do you think the crash corrupted the updated BIOS, and the backup BIOS is still on factory default? I think the 3TB+ partitioning requires a BIOS update, which my board no longer seems to have.Apparently your motherboard supports Gigabyte Hybrid EFI technology.
https://hwbot.org/news/4628_dualbios_3tb_hdd_support_hybrid_efi_technology
So you should be able to install windows in UEFI mode and use GPT partition scheme for your boot HDD.
Thanks for the tips. I think after the crash, my motherboard is now running on the factory default BIOS version. And, according to the product description, the BIOS needs to be updated before it can support EFI 3TB+ partition creation.You have to boot from windows install media in UEFI mode,
clean hdd with diskpart and
install windows.
Note - cleaning removes all data from HDD.
Note2 - only windows 7 64bit version supports UEFI boot and GPT boot partitions.
32bit windows 7 doesn't support it.